5/15/2009

The battle is now joined. The CIA lied, or is lying about what Speaker Pelosi knew and when she knew it, according to Speaker Pelosi. The CIA is now led by Pelosi ally, and Obama nominee, Leon Panetta. If it's lying now, it's her ally doing the lying.

All politicians lie. Some more than others, some with greater ease than others. The CIA lies. It's in the business of lying. But now the CIA has to defend itself, on its home turf, against a Speaker from the same party as its boss. While the CIA of five or seven years ago was led by a different person and different party, the guts of an organization and culture will change little in that time.

In the coming war of attrition and selective leaks, who would you bet on?

4 comments:

Chris J.
said...

I have never been a fan of Pelosi and I suspect that she will suffer some political consequence because of this issue. I also think that it is entirely plausible that W and his boys provided only the most minimal lip service to their oversight and could have been misleading even if they didn't outright lie. They lied to the American people numerous times, why is anyone surprised they might have lied to congressional leaders?

This episode tells us again that there is too much secrecy in our government. Even IF Pelosi knew exactly what was going on, she had no recourse. If she complained to W in private, she would have been ignored. If she complained in public, he would have been branded a traitor and a snitch by W and his boys (remember John Ashcroft??) and might have even opened herself up to criminal charges for revealing classified information. So all this "what did she know and when did she know it" handwringing is simply more politics as usual from Repubs.

Never been sure what, exactly, are politics as usual, but does blaming others, ad hominem attacks, deflecting attention, making excuses, belittling questioners, obscuring intent, inflating accomplishments, ridiculing opponents while impugning their motives, all of which Pelosi accomplished in her short press conference, count?

Funny thing is that Rep. Jane Harman (D-Ca), and a Pelosi nemisis, wrote a letter to the CIA objecting to waterboarding. So, why would the CIA lie to Pelosi and not to Jane Harman? The truth of the matter is that the Speaker lied and got caught and now she's looking to blame others.

I'm curious, about what did the Bush Administration lie to the American people?

Also, I disagree that there is too much secrecy in our government in matters of national security. I would say the opposite is true. Leaks are rampant, and classified information is disclosed and published without any consequences, compromising many important initiatives, including our surveillance and financial account monitoring programs.